Read Online Taking Chances by Nina Perez - Free Book Online

speaking with Thomas’s wife Mary, when Mrs. Murphy announced dinner would be served in ten minutes.
     
    A familiar voice behind me whispered, “We gotta stop meeting like this.”
     
    I turned and there was Paul smiling back at me. Relief at seeing a familiar face draped over me. I might have even audibly sighed as I hugged him hello.
     
    “Chloe, this is my mother Virginia.”
     
    Paul’s mother was a thin woman with brown hair and she strongly resembled Paul. “Nice to meet you. Paul told me what a wonderful time he had with you and your family yesterday.”
     
    “Oh, it was great to have him over. I’m glad you had fun,” I said, turning back to Paul.
     
    “Chloe, come with me out to the car? I left the cake.”
     
    “Sure.”
     
    Paul and I exited out the front door and headed for a minivan parked at the curb.
     
    “I did that on purpose, left the cake in the car. I just had to find out what you thought of the Murphys and I knew I needed to get you alone to do that.”
     
    I laughed loudly and was even more grateful Paul was there. We walked around the far side of the van and leaned against it so anyone watching from the house couldn’t see us. Like two kids, we began to gossip.
     
    “Well, to be honest, I’m having trouble keeping up with names.  Maggie and her boys are kind of easy to remember because they all start with M.”
     
    “Yeah, her husband’s name is Mitchell, but he probably won’t be here. Theresa told my mother that they were having problems. What do you think of everyone else?”
     
    “Cate is a blast. She’s so funny. I really like her.”
     
    “Yeah, she’s my favorite. After Patrick, of course.”
     
    “Of course. Liam seems nice. We haven’t spoken that much though. I can’t get a read on the older brothers.”
     
    “Hmmm, Tommy and Kellam. I never really had a chance to get to know them that well. They were already grown and out the house when we were growing up. Has anyone mentioned Charlotte yet?”
     
    “Not really and it’s so weird. It’s like you would think someone would ask where she’s at or if she’s coming. Aside from Cate asking if I’d met her, it’s like she doesn’t exist.”
     
    “Well, according to my mother, Theresa’s in denial. She really believes that Charlotte is just extremely busy with school. That’s how she is, though. She likes to put a nice shine on shit, as my father used to say. For instance, this whole thing with Maggie and her husband—she insists that it’s no big deal, but everyone has seen him around town with another woman, a younger one at that.”
     
    “You are too much!”
     
    “I am a journalist, you know. It’s in my blood. Now come on, let’s get back in there before they miss us.”
     
    As we made our way back inside, I asked myself why I hadn’t admitted to Paul the arctic chill I felt from Patrick’s mother. By the time we sat down to eat I’d decided that gossiping about the family was one thing, but admitting that Mrs. Murphy didn’t care for me was another entirely. I didn’t even want to admit the possibility to myself, and was holding out hope that it was all my over-active imagination. 
     
    Sitting between Patrick and Paul at dinner I didn’t have time to give it further thought. The meal was wonderful; lots of traditional Irish dishes I’d never heard of, like colcannon, oyster stuffing, and black pudding, plus the traditional Thanksgiving fare. My earlier impressions seemed to hold true; Cate was still the funniest and most easygoing, followed by Liam, who offered to give Patrick and me a ride home as he had plans to meet some friends in the city later that evening.
     
    “It’s a shame Charlotte couldn’t make it.” Patrick’s mother said. “I suppose school is keeping her quite busy.”
     
    I could feel Patrick tense next to me as he looked down the table at his parents; his mother was transfixed on her plate and Mr. Murphy had reached over to place a hand on her